


The hand that mocked them

by tigriswolf



Series: comment_fic drabbles [21]
Category: Psych
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-09-18
Updated: 2017-06-29
Packaged: 2017-10-23 20:34:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/254708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tigriswolf/pseuds/tigriswolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ten years after Shawn takes off, two FBI agents visit Gus at his apartment. They ask him questions about Shawn, about Shawn's childhood, his attitude, his capabilities, and his plans for the future.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Title: The hand that mocked them  
> Fandom: Psych  
> Disclaimer: not my characters  
> Warnings: preseries AU  
> Pairings: none  
> Rating: PG  
> Wordcount: 260  
> Point of view: third  
> Prompt: Shawn, He never came back to stay in Santa Barbara

Gus gets a postcard six years after Shawn takes off. The picture on the front is of a sunrise over the water. On the back, the address is in Georgia. The handwriting is Shawn's, and the message is simply, _come find me._

Gus has missed Shawn, but there are responsibilities he can't shake. He puts the postcard on the fridge.

o0o

Ten years after Shawn takes off, two FBI agents visit Gus at his apartment. They ask him questions about Shawn, about Shawn's childhood, his attitude, his capabilities, and his plans for the future.

Gus explains that he knew Shawn a decade ago and hasn't seen him since.

One of the agents pulls the postcard off his fridge and asks if they can keep it.

Gus wants to say no, but doesn't.

o0o

Ten and a half years after Shawn takes off, he gets another postcard. The image on the front is of a skull-and-crossbones. The address on the back is blacked out and Shawn's message is scrawled in red ink.

_I wish you'd been my first mate._

Gus places it in the pages of his senior yearbook, marking Shawn's quote- _My name is Ozymandias, king of kings. Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair._

At the time, it'd been a joke between them. Now, Gus wonders if it was a warning.

o0o

The FBI comes back and Gus answers all their questions.

He knows it won't help.

The Shawn he can provide knowledge about died a long time ago. The Shawn they're after is his killer. And Gus doesn't know either of them anymore.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An AU of the first chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title: The hand that mocked them  
> Disclaimer: not my characters  
> Warnings: preseries AU  
> Pairings: none  
> Rating: PG  
> Wordcount: 390  
> Point of view: third  
> Prompt: Psych, Shawn Spencer + Burton Guster, in another universe they're criminals.

For his senior quote, Shawn used _My name is Ozymandias, king of kings. Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair_. Gus used _The lone and level sands stretch far away_. It was a joke; Gus doesn't even remember why.

But six years after Shawn takes off, when Gus is determinedly working his way up the corporate ladder, Gus gets a postcard in the mail. The picture on the front is of a sunrise over the water. On the back, the address is in Georgia. The handwriting is Shawn's, and the message is simply, _come find me_.

Gus hasn't taken a sick or vacation day since he got hired, and he's tired. So he goes. 

.

Shawn is just as loud, just as excitable, just as smart as he was the day he left Gus behind. At first, as Shawn shows Gus all around his current city, it's fun, being caught back up in Shawn's whirlwind. 

But then, Gus begins noticing the differences that can't simply be explained away by six years and adulthood. 

On the last day of his vacation, Gus takes a deep breath, offers Shawn a pineapple smoothie, and asks, "What are you doing?" 

Shawn's grin is slow and bright, and he says, "I knew you'd catch on.”

.

Gus does not like what Shawn is doing. It's dangerous. It's terrible. It's not only illegal—it's morally horrifying. 

"I'm only going after bad guys," Shawn explains, like it's some kind of defense. "You know, rapists, child abusers. Bad guys who the cops can't seem to catch." 

Gus takes deep breaths, holds them, sighs, again and again and again. 

"This one," Shawn says, pointing to a police report he stole, "he got away with killing a kid, Gus, just because the kid was black." 

None of Shawn's explanation should make sense, should make it better. This isn't the boy Gus grew up with, his best friend, his _brother_.

But he breathes out slowly, a heavy sigh, and Shawn smiles again, eyes bright. 

.

Just like Shawn, Gus never goes back to Santa Barbara. He doesn't get involved in the actual disposal, but he handles the prep work and takes care of the tiny details that would've gotten Shawn caught eventually. 

"What would I do without you?" Shawn asks one day. 

"You'd be on someone's radar by now," Gus tells him tartly. 

"Yeah, probably," Shawn agrees.


End file.
